I was sitting in the WC, doing what you do, flicking through old copies of The Duelist while I did it. This one to be precise, dating from July 1996:

After finishing the article on "Necropotence: Harness the Power of Death", I flicked to page 12 and discovered this:

Yes, indeed! Elder Dragon Legend Wars by Jesus M. Lopez.

Text for those interested:

Quote:

Nicol Bolas, Chromium, Arcades Sabboth - legendary creatures of immense power and stature. The look just great in your binder and are probably rarely, if ever, used. Well, take them out, dust them off, and gather up three or four of yur friends. It's time to let the Elder Drzgons battle it out.

Tournament Magic, while exciting, is so cutthroat that the visual aspect of seeing beautiful cards in play is diminished. In "Elder Dragon Legend Wars," armies have time to assemble, and powerful creatures abound. The basic rules for this variant are designed to create a balanced enviornment while allowing individual creativity and strategy.

-three or more players are recommended.-players choose (or select at random) and Elder Dragon Legend as their amry's leader. The dragon must be supported by creatures and spells corresponding to each of the Dragon's three specific casting colours.-players include 8 basic lands for each of those colours in their decks-decks must have 20-24creatures and may have no more than one of the same creature. All creatures should be 3/3 or better unless the have a special ability (i.e. regeneration, mountainwalk, etc.)-to help ensure balance, the total power and toughness of each player's creatures should not exceed a number pre-determined by the players-Players designate and announce three of their creatures as "Warlords" and two creatures as "Captains". If an opponent destroys a Captain, the Captain's controller takes 2 damage, and the destroyer gains 2 life. If a warlord is destroyed, teh controller takes 3 damage and teh destroyer gains 3 life. And for an Elder Dragon, the controller takes 4 damages, the destroyer gains 4 life.-No more than one of each spell may be included in a deck.-Decide beforehand which cards are banned. Some cards that tend to be unbalancing because they have such global effects include Balance, Wrath of God, Anarchy, and Gloom.-Players begin play with one of each land type already in play.-Players start with 25 life.-Players have a 60-card-minimum deck, in addition to the lands already in play.

We've played free-for-all, attack-left, and "temporary teams", where as soon as one team lost, the temporary alliance would dissolve and teh remaining 2 players would battle it out. But since the intent of "Elder Dragon Legend Wars" is to increase playing pleasure, feel free to introduce your own rules and requirements.

Is it sad that I really want to read the Necro and Zak Dolan articles more than modern magic theory?

No, it's not. The Necro article is a bit funny seen from the modern perspective, a bit simplistic really. Back then though, without the net and info sharing that we have now, it was tech! Modern Magic theory from 14 years ago.....

I dug these out of storage after having dinner with Rob Alexander at GP Paris and realising half way through the meal that the "I've-seen-you-before-somewhere" feeling was due to him doing a spot in The Duelist #6 (1995) which I had read a few times.

I was recently rummaging through a boot sale, when I came across a box full of the Duelist Magazines. I got the first fifteen consecutively, but then they start too break up. I did however get Issue #31 sealed with it's Tahngarth Life Counter Card!! OOOOOHHHH!! Anybody with any of the other three caracters for sale/trade, please contact me via PM.Thanks for the sweet post Zimagic!!

I was the author of that variant way back in 1996. I mentioned it to my son and he didn't believe me so I googgled the article and found your post. I like to think that it had a little something to do with what EDH has evolved into. I live in Raleigh, NC and I see folks playing and raving about EDH. I use to think "Man, that sounds awfully familiar "

My mom (who still lives in NY) has my only copy of Duelist No. 11. I think I will have to get it back during my next visit I was thrilled to get the idea in the magazine and even received a metal abaccus-like life counter for my troubles.

I think I'll add this to the credits section of the rules page.. there's definitely enough there to convince me that Elder Dragon Legend Wars contributed a foundation to the format. Adam probably read it or heard about it incidentally and refined it into the Alaskan standard.

Does anyone else have a copy of the issue they can check to vet the contents?

jelopez wrote:

[i]-three or more players are recommended.-players choose (or select at random) and Elder Dragon Legend as their amry's leader. - The dragon must be supported by creatures and spells corresponding to each of the Dragon's three specific casting colours.- no more than one of the same creature. - All creatures should be 3/3 or better unless the have a special ability -No more than one of each spell may be included in a deck.-Players start with 25 life.

Heck, even the banning philosophy is similar, reflecting the same vision of the purpose of a casual-first format.

Quote:

-Decide beforehand which cards are banned. Some cards that tend to be unbalancing because they have such global effects include Balance, Wrath of God, Anarchy, and Gloom.

But since the intent of "Elder Dragon Legend Wars" is to increase playing pleasure, feel free to introduce your own rules and requirements.

[/quote]

_________________Remember: Most legendary creatures have a gender, and most non-legendary ones don't! Use proper pronouns!